When I was in...

Places I've been to, things I've done

[wheniwasin]

When I was in Hong Kong (Summer 2017)

[wheniwasin]

When I was in Prague (Summer 2017)

I had to get away from the Lawyer, so I texted my mate to see where in Europe she was and joined her in Prague 2 days later.  I love being around her.  We are like 2 peas in a pod, yet so different, which makes us great travel buddies!

[wheniwasin]

When I was in the Surrey Hills

 I met the Lawyer a couple of weeks before and instantly liked him.  I did pick up on a few things though; he was constantly on WhatsApp and I he was overly confident.  But I chose to ignore this.  For bank holiday weekend we went to the Surrey Hills (we wanted to go to the countryside but Surrey was about as far as we managed to go).

As soon as we slept together this weekend, he went cold.  The texts from him became less regular, less frequent, and shorter.  I didn’t react though, even though I was screaming on the inside ‘What the fuck is going on??’ After about a week of this I though I’m not going to sit around waiting for this wank stain to fix up, so I went on a date and met a lovely South African. 

One problem with the SA though...he was a smoker.  OK, I know I am too, but I don’t want to date a smoker!  It’ll just make me smoke more!  He was attentive (maybe too attentive) and tried to hold my hand on our first date (WTF??) We kissed on our second date and met up 3 times in 4 days.  About a week into dating the South African, the Lawyer got back in contact, but I told him I wasn’t feeling it when he went cold, and he replied (or confirmed my suspicions) that he was looking for something casual.  So, that was the end of that then?  Ha! No, it wasn’t.

What followed was a 2 month ‘fling’, coupled with dating the SA, breaking up with the SA, feeling excited every time the Lawyer would make his way round to mine, or meet me at the station near his place, and then feeling fucked up and used on the Sundays he would leave, missing his attention between Sundays and Thursdays when he wouldn’t text me.  Fuck, what a horrible rollercoaster of emotions that he had no idea about because I could never discuss anything relationship-y with him.  I remember once when I was feeling quite fragile and he was lying in my bed and I wanted to snuggle into his big arms, but I couldn’t, I stopped myself because that’s not what we were.  That was painful.  

I never once thought I could change him nor did I even want to.  After 2 months I couldn’t do it any longer.  We got into a petty argument about him spending the afternoon with me and when he left, neither of us contacted each other again...well, at least for a few months.

[wheniwasin]

When I was in Slovenia

[wheniwasin]

When I was in Malaysia

My brother got married in KL on the 24th December.

[wheniwasin]

When I went to Faro, Portugal (Aug 2016)

I had a brief fling with the Bisexual a few months earlier and God, that was an odd relationship.  I fancied him so much; he was tall, had a perfectly podgy but toned body and a hairy chest that had just the right amount of bounce.  However, he had a few issues that I didn’t know how to deal with I guess.  It’s a shame because I think he had good intentions, but the fact that he had never had a relationship EVER in his life meant he had no idea how to treat a girl and was totally self-absorbed.  Needless to say, we ended in my usual ‘let’s just run this down into the ground to make it easier to walk away from’...and it worked. 

I met the Photographer a month later and pretty much fell in love with him immediately.  We had a beautiful first date; we met in Willesden Junction (WTF), then jumped on the bus which took to us Westfields in Shepherd’s Bush.  We sat on the Southern Terrace with an ice-tea and donut and chatted until it got dark and cold.  We walked up towards Holland Park and had dinner in a pizza place.  I only left because I had work the next day, otherwise I could’ve stayed for hours.

We met a further two times over the next 2 weeks and then I had to leave.  I had a 5 week trip to Asia planned but I didn’t want this to end.  I shorted my trip to 4 weeks because I wanted to spend some of my summer with him, and I’m glad I did.  As soon as I came back we booked a trip to Faro, it was exciting, spontaneous and romantic, I couldn’t keep my hands off him the whole way there.  There were a few things that I noticed though; he really liked things his way.  He would decide where we would go, what we would eat, and the one time I suggested we go to another Island, I was faced with a sulky 37 year old man.  He soon realised this though and made up for it by being overly agreeable to everything I wanted to do...it was cute, but I still noticed it.  The other things that bothered me was the fact he got into a mood that I couldn’t have sex with him because I was on my period.  I’m sorry, but I didn’t chose for my vagina to bleed this week while I was on holiday.  ‘Luckily’, I stopped bleeding and we had sex.  

When we returned to London we kissed each other goodbye at Euston station.  It felt like we kissed for 20 minutes by the escalator.  We couldn’t say goodbye.  We had just come back from a spontaneous, romantic holiday and I was in love with this guy who was amazing.

[wheniwasin]

When I was in Japan, Bali and Hong Kong (Summer 2016)

To celebrate the end of my teaching course, I went to Asia!

[wheniwasin]

When I was in Lisbon (Easter 2016)

Visiting my best friend Tracey.

[wheniwasin]

When I was in Rome and Seville (Oct 2015)

My cousin went through a pretty bad break up with her boyfriend, so we went to Rome (along with her dad and brother!)

[wheniwasin]

When I was in Hong Kong (Summer 2015)

While I was in Bogota I decided to fly to Hong Kong to visit my grandmother.  It was the longest flight known to man and I felt like hell when I eventually arrived

[wheniwasin]

When I was in South America (Summer 2015)

I was pretty pissed off with how things ended with the Science teacher and when I told my friends I had hoped to go to South America with him, they all suggested that I still go...and so I did! For 5 weeks, I travelled to Buenos Aires, Bolivia, Peru and Bogota.

[wheniwasin]

When I was in Seville for the first time in 7 months

Quit my job a week earlier and on my last day of work, I carried my pre-packed suitcase waiting for me in the staffroom and went to the airport to meet Michelle to head to SEVILLA!  

The first night we headed to the Alemeda to meet the others.  MAN do I miss just sitting outside at night!  What an atmosphere Seville has....and on a Thursday!  Even the 3am walk back to Hostel Catalina in Plaza Los Teceros was amazing; the quiet cobbled streets, the distant mumbles of drunk Sevillanos and the glowing yellow street lights.  It was quaint and romantic...remind me again why I left?

[wheniwasin]

When I was in Stockholm

My first impression of Stockers was that it was big, clean and modern.  It lacked that charming character that I was keen on seeing when visiting European cities.  The buildings were, in my opinion, generic, and the atmosphere was....I don’t know if this is too harsh a word; bland.  Don’t get me wrong, it was a nice little city and a much needed break after breaking up with crazy science teacher guy, but I have been to other cities that have captured my attention from the start and with Stockholm I felt like I was waiting.  

One great memory I have of it though; During brunch on the first day I checked my emails to see if work had emailed me, telling me off for apparently being sick yet having an international ringing tone when they called me.  But there was no email from them.  Only an email telling me that I had gotten a conditional offer for the teacher training course that I convinced myself I wasn’t going to get.  Good times, now I just have to pass this fucking literacy and numeracy test and I’m on it!

[wheniwasin]

When I was in Greece

Ok, so I had only been going out with ‘the science teacher’ since mid-December and everyone was like ‘you’re going away together already?’ but it was the Easter holiday and why not? I mean what does ‘too soon’ even mean?  We were both up for going away so we did, for one week to Athens, and then Chania and Heraklion in Crete.

Athens had a lot of character.  The streets were dirty and there was graffiti on every battered metal shutter but the first view of the Acropolis as we walked out of the metro station made up for it; what an unexpected sight to see at 10pm surrounded by singing vagabonds and immigrants selling flashing flying things. Hostel Athinakon was simple but sufficient. As with most of the hostel bathrooms in Greece, the shower was basically the entire bathroom. But what more did we need? There was a bed, a TV and our own bathroom. We weren't planning on staying in for too long anyway. A few days into our holiday we had an argument that I now know I should've paid attention to. It was a sign of what was to come further into our short-lived relationship. In a cafe while we had our breakfast, I touched his knee and said it my bestest 'I'm so cute' voice to come and sit next to me. Not only was I faced with a 'no' but I was then also accused of being selfish and on a power-trip..... His actual words! WTF.... I had never had that reaction from any boyfriend when I asked them to sit next to me.

After Athens, we moved on to Crete, to the city of Chania.  Oh Crete was to offer some beautiful scenery....and a little more crazy from the science teacher.  So I forget in what context this happened, but in the taxi ride to the hostel I asked him to rub my neck because it was clicking to which he replied something along the lines of ‘if you want me to rub your neck then just say so but don’t lie and say it’s because it hurts.’ Erm, OMG number 2.  

Alena apartments was a new business and the owners were eager to please and make us feel welcomed. On our first day we walked towards the charming little harbour and the weather was perfectly warm. We walked all around and along the crystal clear water up towards the lighthouse. We sat by the water until the sun started to set. We had free use of their bikes, which we took out one day and cycled down to the beach, only to be faced with what seemed like a tropical wind storm, so we turned around and took refuge in a nice little restaurant. 

After a few days in Chania we headed to Iraklion, a 3 hour bus ride away. Iraklion was a little busier. We rented a car and drove to the south of the island, to the Agiofarango gorge, stopping off at Moni Odigitrias monastery on the way. The monastery was peaceful and quaint and full of cats. The gorge was one of the most amazing natural sights that I have seen. It was totally doable and the weather was perfect for it. After about an hour and a half, we stopped by a well and had our lunch (stolen buffet food from the hostel which included some croissants and a boiled egg). Had we know that the beach was only another 10 minute walk I’m sure we would’ve chosen to eat there; oh well, it was nice to have a bench. When we turned up at the beach, we realised it was a nudist beach; mostly the old Germans were nude. Hmm, I’ve never been to a nudist beach, why not? Science teacher had no qualms about stripping down and changing into his Speedos. We went into the water but it was freezing! I quickly got out while he swam a little longer. After the gorge, we headed to the car and stopped at a nearby tavern where the food was, once again, cheap, abundant and filling, topped off, of course, with the usual complimentary dessert and shots of raki. Good thing he drove us home, I was pretty tipsy. That was one of the things I liked about him; he always wanted to be the driver. After getting slightly lost on the way home and driving up what seemed to be a huge mountain in rural China, we arrived back at our hotel ready to wash the dust off us and get in bed.

OMG number 3; We were lying in bed and discussing the news when we started talking about the Buddhist monk that set himself alight back in the 60′s. I gave my opinion that I thought it was a crazy way to protest to which he got MASSIVELY annoyed by and started accusing me of being dismissive. Why couldn’t I share my opinion? ‘Surely I’m not the only person the world who thinks it is an extreme way of protesting?’....well that didn’t go down well either, now I was accused of deciding what was ‘normal opinion’.  Why was he such hard work? Why did I put up with his weirdness for 4 months? Why did he have to take every little thing I said so negatively and so NOT the way I meant it? He is now known as ‘the crazy science teacher’ ex.

The monastery near the agiofarago gorge.

[wheniwasin]

When I was in HK for my granddad's funeral

I woke up on Thursday to some whatsapp messages from cousins abroad telling me that my granddad had died in his sleep. Yeah Yeah was 94 years old, smoked like 20 a day at least and had slowly been getting weaker and weaker. For the past year he had been going for dialysis 3 times a week and I guess hid body just gave up. Mama was distraught; my cousin sent me a short video of her wailing and throwing her face down on his pillow as she packed up his things and it broke my heart. On Monday afternoon I booked my flight to HK I flew later that night, having JUST got the coil fitted that morning AND on the first day of my heavy period. It was not an enjoyable flight.

I arrived in HK, rushed to the house and hugged Mama who was sitting in her bedroom. She looked old and tired. Her face drooped and she looked cold. I don’t remember what we talked about, but I know it was sad.

Over the next few days more and more relatives from the UK arrived. When dad came, he walked into the bedroom and I woke Mama up. She literally jumped out of bed and grabbed his hands in hers. Her voice cracked as she said something about having her boy back. It was an incredibly happy and sweet moment, but when I posted the video up on the whatsapp group, it brought a sad tear to people’s eyes.

The funeral was a day after my birthday. We all wore white and walked up the little hill a few minutes from the main house. When the coffin arrived we stood in a line and shouted ‘Welcome back Yeah Yeah, don’t be scared.’ I teared up, and I have to admit, felt a little uncomfortable seeing this huge wooden coffin pass in front of me. For the entire afternoon the villagers arrived in hordes while the Buddhist monks sat in the corner chanting and burning stuff. 

There were no tears. From anyone. It was actually quite a nice occasion. My dad hadn’t seen his old chums in years and there was a lot of ‘HEY, here, have a beer’ kind of greeting. It only became sad again when Mama arrived. She wobbled over to the coffin and broke down, stroking her hands against the cold wooden box. 

Night came and the crowd dispersed although a few of the really drunk ones stayed. My cousins and I had to take it in shifts to guard the coffin, so I finally went home, left my white clothes by the front door and had some rest before I had to get up at 4am for my shift. When Hung and I woke up it was so cold and dark. I was scared to guard the coffin. I thought it would be an eerie experience that was silent and lonely, but when we went up the hill I realised it wasn’t going to be so. We burnt the yellow paper and chatted about the family and when we were younger. We had to keep the candles burning (which we miserably failed at doing at least twice). My auntie and uncle joined us and we sat around the table eating jok and laughing and joking; it was actually one of the nicest moments of the day and I’m glad I spent it with Hung.

[wheniwasin]

Love autumn in London

[wheniwasin]

For the one in Spain